Why Joseph won’t remember this church.

These are just a few words to describe the experience Joseph had with his own brothers.

His father loved him, his brothers …

His father treated Joseph with favor. His brothers handled Joseph with hardness.

His brothers hated his dreams. His father observed them.

His father dressed him in a coat of many colors. His brothers stripped him.

His father sent him on a mission. His brothers sold him into slavery.

His father loved him. His brothers hated him.

He went on a long journey to seek after their welfare. When he was afar off they conspired against him.

His father expressed his love to Joseph. His brethren couldn’t even speak peaceably with him.

Joseph found honor and respect in Egypt. What he could never feel at home was felt in Egypt.

Joseph survived his prison experiences. He soon married and stepped into a place of authority. His firstborn son came soon after.

Genesis 41:51 – And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.

Joseph did not say that he had forgotten his father. He did forget his father’s house.

There is a doctrine of the father’s house and the father.

They aren’t the same.

His father had always been gracious and kind. His brethren were the exact opposite. He forgot about the house he left behind. He never forgot about the favorable father that had so often expressed his love.

We have a heavenly Father that will always be gracious and kind. He wraps us in favorable garments and expresses His love to us in myriad facets. He never lets us down.

The Father’s house (church) doesn’t always resemble the Father’s attributes. Just like Joseph’s brethren, they can be cruel, envious, hateful, and resentful. The gravity to this house is minimal. The gluing isn’t sticky. There is no gelling.

For those that have left this house, there isn’t anything to draw them back. They want the Father: they just don’t want His house.

The Prodigal Son echoed this truth when he remembered his father in the pig pen. The Bible never said that he was excited about going back to his father’s house.

This is tragic.

The Father’s house should reflect the attributes of the Father. The love of the Father must reign supreme in His house. Grace and mercy should be given and expressed.

This is a terminal illness in some churches. His own house pollutes their main draw, the Father.

Let’s clean up our spirits, open our hearts, and stretch out our arms; all to restore the good name of the Father’s house.